Life

Kevin and Sids Kona Dream Now a Reality

World age group triathlon champion Kevin Fergusson would do anything for a mate and for many years it has been his dream to share the experience of crossing the finish line at the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii with his long-time friend Sid James.

While Kevin has finished more than 30 IRONMAN races, including four IRONMAN World Championships, winning his age group twice, Sid’s dream to race IRONMAN was shattered 23 years ago when he knocked from his bike near his home at Victor Harbor, south of Adelaide during a training ride, leaving him quadriplegic.

That Kona dream is now a reality with the announcement that the Adelaide based Kevin has been nominated as an IRONMAN Ambassador Athlete for 2017 and will now be able to fulfil his wish to tow his long-time friend Sid around the iconic Kona course during the IRONMAN World Championships 14 October, 2017.

Kevin was overjoyed with the announcement and so keen to share the good news that he rode down to Sid’s home in Victor Harbor, on the pretence of a simple photo opportunity, to surprise his good friend.

"We had Adelaide’s Sunday Mail come down to take the photos and once we got all them done I got the photographer to get ready and then I handed Sid the Ambassador’s bib. Most of the group who are going over were down there as well so it was a pretty teary moment. The expression on Sid’s face was priceless and we all had a bit of a cry. It was a just a great relief to finally know we were going," Kevin said.

While the announcement was welcome news for all of Kevin and Sid’s supporters it had a profound impact on an emotional and delighted Sid.

"I still don't believe it. I had trouble telling the people ringing up congratulating us because of the tears running down my face," he said.

Kevin and Sid’s friendship began two decades ago with Kevin’s unsuccessful attempts to snare the title down at the Victor Harbor Triathlon organised by Sid.

"I could never win the bloody thing and came second I don’t know how many times. With my family down there, they knew Sid as well and I just got to know him better and better and it wasn’t long before as race director he started giving me free race entry and I appreciated that. One year they were fund raising to get some money for his vehicle ‘Sid’s wheels’ at one of the races, I think I came third, and I got my cheque at presentations and put it in the bucket and donated my race winnings. Our relationship just got stronger and stronger and now it is at the next level."

"Triathlon is Sid’s life and it has kept him going, "Kevin said. "Being a race director there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t know. And for him to do it with a mouth stick is amazing. Sid has so many sponsors and he puts a lot of effort into it and he runs the best event in South Australia as far as I am concerned."

Kevin and Sid’s journey to Kona came about more than a year ago when Sid expressed an interest in seeing his mate race at the IRONMAN World Championships. Kevin originally hadn’t planned to return until he was 60 and at the beginning of the next age group but that changed rapidly and soon the pair were cooking up plans to have Sid having a front row seat and right in among the action.

"I was going to Hawaii to have my overseas holiday before my health will not allow it to happen, so I asked Kevin to chaperone me," Sid recalled. "He said ‘Yes’ and I was jumping out of my skin. Not long afterwards he said he wasn't going to chaperone me and in his next breath said ‘I'm going to tow you’. I didn't believe it and I was scared because I have no control of what happens. Then again I'm so excited about what we can achieve, just getting to the start line to watch would have done me."

Kevin said that there are so many aspects to the life of a quadriplegic that people don’t understand and he is full of praise for his mate who is fully committed to doing his bit in their quest to conquer the Big Island.

"One of the races at Murray Bridge we were running along and Sid yells out to stop and I said ‘What’s wrong?’ He said, ‘My nose, my nose. I’ve got an itch.’ And he can’t do anything about it. People don’t realise it, he can get an itch and can’t scratch it. So I really got to know the finer details of his life and that is something that doesn’t happen unless you spend time with someone. Our friendship has really developed strongly over the past 12 months but even more so with the constant communication of the past three months trying to organize everything."

"I can’t explain the relief and the realization that it is finally going to happen for him. It is amazing. This is a team effort and Sid has already done the right thing by me. He was 82kg when we first come up with the idea and I told him this is going to be hard on me and I told him that I would have to put in extra effort and a different type of training and I said ‘You will have to do your part too, mate. You will have to lose weight.’ He has lived up to his end of the bargain and he is down to 69kg now which is a huge effort. As a quadriplegic he can’t exercise to lose weight he just had to cut his food intake down. He likes a red wine, so he has cut the red wine out which is a pretty tough thing to do. He has done the right thing which is fantastic."

"Sid was asked on radio how he has been losing the weight and he said ‘It is quite easy, if I get the munchies I can’t open the cupboards can I.’ He likes a joke old Sid and he can see the humour in his disability. Sid is a funny man and he is often cracking jokes while we are racing."

Sid’s sense of humour might end up being one of the team’s greatest assets as Kevin pits his body and mind against the very real logistical issues of towing someone around the lava fields of Hawaii. For the swim leg, Kevin will wear a harness and tow an inflatable kayak containing Sid for 3.8 kilometres, on the bike leg Kevin will tow Sid for 180 kilometres in a trolley attached to his bike and in the marathon Kevin will push his mate in a specially designed wheelchair 42.2 kilometres run to the finish line on the famous Alii Drive.

"The Murray Bridge half made me realise this is not going to be easy street. Especially the bike, which is normally my strongest leg, is now my weakest. It is just so, so hard, I can’t explain how hard it is. I know that going up to Hawi is going to be incredibly tough and windy. I raced Murray Bridge with a semi compact but obviously for Hawaii I will go full compact because I won’t need the top end speed. It is a matter of getting a low enough gear that I can spin up the hills."

"The faster you go the chair really grabs the wind. You can feel it as soon as you get above 25-30kmh there is a lot of drag. The amount of effort required to go any faster is just not worth it, so 25kmh is my ideal speed to be sitting on. Typical Hawaii you get a head wind coming back so it will probably drop lower. So the cut off time for the bike is my biggest concern but I know I will gain time on the swim which will give me more time on the bike."

Kevin usually finishes in under 10 hours but he knows the pair will finish closer to the 17 hour cut-off mark at Hawaii but he has undertaken a totally different physical and mental preparation training for this assault on Kona. Kevin will be asking his body to perform at extraordinary levels but he is quick to down play his role and put the focus on his mate Sid.

"I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things I have done in my life, no doubt. I will be praying to the weather gods that we get a mild Kona, but I know Hawaii and the chances of that are pretty remote. But that is part of racing there. I am just the person at the front towing, Sid has all the guts and glory because it is going to be harder on him than on me to a certain degree."

"I am lucky with my job I have been doing a lot of bush walking with heavy packs and in hilly areas. I come back and my legs are caned, so I have done a lot of strength work and I am in the gym as well. I don’t normally do a lot of gym work but I am spending a lot of time in the gym now. I am also doing hot yoga which is something I never thought I would do in my life. With all the strength and muscle work I am doing it is important to keep the flexibility up and my legs do get a hammering. It is working well and also helping me acclimatize to Hawaii a little bit."

Racing at the IRONMAN World Championship requires an enormous amount of planning and support but Kevin and Sid’s journey is the result of months of planning and the support of an entire triathlon community.

"We have four carers that are coming over and they have to go through his rituals that he has to have and there is a doctor, so they are the five essential staff. Then there is Sid and myself, Sid’s son and the carers and doctors partners. We have fund raised to pay for the four carers and the doctor to pay for their flights and accommodation. Then there is all the extra stuff I haven’t accounted for like hiring a special bed for Sid in Kona and then there are bed lifts as well. We also need special ‘wheelie’ vehicles as well so we had to put all these logistics in place months and months in advance."

"We get to Honolulu on the 6 October and spend a couple of nights there and then head over to Kona on the Sunday night, the week before the race. It is not ideal, I normally go ten days before to acclimatize but at seven days you are just on the limit. I am not over there to win, I am there to finish, so this is a different sort of hard."

Kevin knows that the success of any race is not getting ahead of yourself, going through the processes and ticking them off one by one. When pressed, he allowed himself to momentarily think about what reaching the finish line in Alii Drive will mean.

"When you complete an IRONMAN that finish line is something special but this will be different. I definitely won’t be running down that finish line. If we have time it will be a very slow walk. We will be on the side, out of everybody’s way, but we will be lapping it up for sure. Sid can’t show any emotion with his body but I am sure you will see it on his face."

The final word is with Sid who said he will be eternally grateful for the opportunity Kevin and his supporters are giving him to fulfil a lifelong dream.

"Most athletes these days would not know how much I love the sport, and some wouldn't know that I was once was a triathlete and raced at elite level. Kevin will always be a special friend after what he has done for me both many years ago and now, allowing me to at least get a race number. If all goes well we get to start the event, finish the first leg after that who knows what will happen, I may even become an IRONMAN," Sid smiled.